Library

Music


Below are suggested resources to use when researching topics in music, primarily in history of
For research strategies and techniques, see the relevant handouts, or see the online version of this guide: http://www.simmons.edu/libraries/instruction/musicresearch.html You can always AskNow! Call, email, chat online, or visit the Reference Desk for help from a Simmons librarian with all you library and research needs. Visit http://www.simmons.edu/libraries/asknow for more information

Getting Started | Finding Articles | Getting Fulltext | Introduction to Music Appreciation | Biography | Musical Forms | Musical Instruments | Musical Miscellany

Getting Started

Before jumping in and looking for research, it is a good idea to have a refined topic and to know a little about it. Start with broad resources like encyclopedias, bibliographies, and handbooks to start to get a sense of what is available on your topic in the universe of information.

Basic Reference

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Ref ML100.N48 20v. or Online
Norton Anthology of Western Music
Ref MT6.5 .N67 1996 2v.

New Harvard Dictionary of Music
Ref ML100.A64 1986 Oxford Dictionary of Music Ref ML100.K35 1994

Norton Anthology of Western Music
Ref MT6.5 .N67 1996 2v.

Oxford Dictionary of Music Ref ML100.K35 1994

Web Sites of Interest

These are three excellent portals to varied resources, many of them academic, some commercial and special collections.

New England Conservatory: Online Resources for Music
http://newenglandconservatory.edu/libraries/online_reference.html#dbs

William and Gayle Cook Music Library at Indiana University School of Music: Worldwide Internet Music Resources http://www.music.indiana.edu/music_resources/

Yale University Music Library: Music Resources on the World Wide Web
http://www.library.yale.edu/musiclib/webres.htm#top


Bibliography and Criticism

A Basic Music Library
ML113.M8846 1997
“ Now in its third revision, A Basic Music Library continues to be the best list of basic music scores and recordings for developing and evaluating music collections. The third edition lists more than 7,000 recordings and 3,000 printed scores as part of the more than 10,000 total entries.”

General Bibliography for Music Research 3rd Ed.
Ref ML113.M595G4 1996
” Extremely inclusive work, with listings for basic research, bibliographies, national and trade bibliographies, dictionaries of musical terms, encyclopedias, biography and autobiography sources, bibliographies, indexes, and union lists and library catalogs.” Mainly print works with scattering of digital resources.

Music Reference and Research Materials : an annotated bibliography
Ref GSLIS ML113.D83 1997
This is the place to start when looking for reference and research materials in musicology. It is the standard work, though a bit dated.

Source Readings in Music History
ML160.S89 1998b
The definitive collection of great writings on music from ancient Greece through the twentieth century.

 

Finding Articles

Search the following indexes to find articles and published research on the topic of music. Academic Search Complete and Humanities Indes are available through the Most Popular E-Resources Quicklist on the library home page. The Grove Dictionary of Music is available via the Alphabetical List of All Resources on the the library home page.

Getting Fulltext

Because not all indexes are fulltext--or 100% fulltext--you may have to elsewhere to find an article for which you have a citation. Consult the resources below to find out how to get access to the articles you need.

Introduction to Music Appreciation

Music: An Appreciation 7th ed.
MT6.K22M9 2000
Standard textbook in field, covering fundamentals and history. Accompanying set of eight compact discs available at Beatley Compact Discs.

Listen: Brief Fourth Edition
MT6.K365 2000
Easy to use overview of musical forms and history.
Accompanying set of six compact discs available at Beatley Compact Discs.

Biography

These sources examine more specific areas or in greater depth than the Grove Dictionary of Music.

Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
Ref ML105.B16 2001 6v.
Great Composers, 1300-1900; a Biographical and Critical Guide (1966) with supplement (1981)
ML105 .E944
The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music
GSLIS Review ML105.H38 1996
Composers since 1900; a biographical and critical guide (1969) with supplement
ML105 .E945
Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians
ML105S67 1982

Musical Forms

For more information on more specific topics within the discipline of Music, see the resources under the categories below. And, as always, contact a librarian if you need further assistance.

Classical and Opera

The Cambridge Guide to the String Quartet
ML1160.C36 2003
Essays on the evolution of the string quartet form, including history, famous ensembles and the repertory.

The Concerto: A Listener’s Guide
MT1263.S74 1998
Reviews 120 concertos played in the standard repertory, movement by movement. Composers range from Bach to John Adams.

The Oxford Dictionary of Opera
Ref ML102.O6 W37 1992
The Oxford Dictionary of Opera is the most authoritative single volume work of its kind. It is packed full of detailed information on a broad range of subjects: including composers, librettists, performers, technical terms, festivals.

The Symphony: A Listener’s Guide
MT125.S79 1995
Annotations of 118 symphonies, including all the standard repertory regularly programmed by North American orchestras described movement by movement.

Popular Music including Rock and Jazz

Broadway: The American Musical
ML1711.8.N3.M37 2004
Chronological history of Broadway musicals by era. Many illustrations, and includes contemporary reviews and bibliography.

Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz 1900-1950 Ref ML102.P66 K55 [1974] 4 volumes.
Lists Broadway musicals, popular songs and jazz recordings chronologically over this period. Includes biographies with discographies. Basic unique source for this period.

Oxford Companion to Popular Music
Ref ML102.P66 G35 1991

Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music
ML102.P66 P46 1989
These are both basic reference sources covering jazz, rock and pop . Both volumes are comprehensive but not up to date, with emphasis on artists from UK.

Great Song Thesaurus
Ref ML128.S3 L4
Unique source of greatest hits and notable song titles by year, title, and subject from Elizabethan times through 1986

Country and Bluegrass

Country Music USA, Rev. ed.
Ref ML3524.M34 1985
Excellent history of country music from its roots to 1984. Includes useful bibliographical covering each chapter.

World

Excursions in World Music 3rd ed.
MT6.E98 2001
” This introductory text offers readers a glimpse into the major musical traditions of the world by first presenting a lively vignette of a musical performance, followed by a general description of the society and its music. “

Women in Music

Women & music: a history. 2nd ed.
ML 82 W6 2001
“ A fresh and unbiased account of the accomplishments of women, commencing with their role in antiquity, following their considerable influence through various periods of history, and ending with a discussion of contemporary feminist aesthetics. Includes chapters on women in American popular music, in African-American music, and in non-Western music.”

Women performing music : the emergence of American women as classical instrumentalists and conductors
ML82. M24 2001
This book “explores the experience of women from the late 19th and early 20th centuries who pursued careers as public performers, charting a new course in an era when women's musical activities were generally consigned to the parlor.”

Trouble Girls: The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock
ML394.T76 1997
This work is “an impressive collection of 56 essays by 44 female writers about the role of women in popular music.” It is “a comprehensive, well-written, and visually appealing volume that has an excellent index, bibliography, and discographies with each chapter. “

Musical Instruments

The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments
ML102.15N48 1991 in 3 volumes.
The most comprehensive work of its type, covering Western and many non-Western instruments. Heavily illustrated and currently not available on-line.

The Cambridge Guide to the Piano
ML 650.C3 1998
Easy to read essays on the history, repertory and players of the piano. Primarily covers classical music and includes information on the physical properties and acoustics of the instrument.

Musical Miscellany

Lexicon of Musical Invective
ML3785.S2 2000
This book tells what musicians and critics really think of each other. Humorous reviews that put a human face
on the greats of classical music

 

Page updated: April 17, 2007

 

contact us | staff | hours | ask now